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Description

This is an circa 1891 lenticular pony truss bridge built by the Berlin Iron Bridge Co to cross the Tankerhoosen River on Maine Street in Talcottville MA. As with the other bridges by BIBC this is made of wrought iron and is pin connected. More unique to this bridge though, is the fact that it has a 16 degree skew angle, and also has a (albeit non functional) pedestrian walkway, and even has cast iron finals, giving this bridge an elegant, although somewhat diminished, stature.

As noted the pedestrian walkway is no longer used, with no deck in place. However the cantilevered floorbeams and ornate railing are still in place, giving hope that at some point this can be rehabilitated.

The truss itself is also no longer directly load bearing, but thankfully the modification of adding load bearing stringers was done in the least invasive way possible: The roadway was raised several inches and the stringers rest on top of the original floorbeams, thus preserving the historic integrity of this bridge.

Facts

Overview

Pin connected Lenticular pony truss bridge over Tankerhoosen River on Main Street

The good news is that in any of the 3 scenarios they intend to retain/preserve this bridge. Of course, "preserved" means different things to different people, so we'll have to wait and see whats proposed to determine how well the plans cater to the needs of this historic span. Right now the bridge retains a very good amount of historic integrity, with the truss and floorbeams fully intact. Hopefully any future plans will maintain this.